Rewind: Manic Street Preachers - If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next

Released exactly 20 years ago today. It's no secret that I loved the Britpop and loved growing up during that period. But I actually prefer the music of the "post-Britpop" era, those more interesting years of 1997-2000. The 24th August 1998 was a key day in post-Britpop history, since it is the day that Mansun released 'Being A Girl' as a single and Babybird released the astonishing and underrated album 'There's Something Going On'. It is also the day that one of the greatest bands of all time released one of the greatest singles of all time. One of the greatest Number 1 singles too. It is in fact also the longest-titled Number 1 single in history (if you don't include brackets like Meatloaf did). 

I had become a fan of the Manic Street Preachers a couple of years before, when their fourth album 'Everything Must Go' catapulted them into the Premier League of British music. Their fifth LP 'This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours' was a highly anticipated record, and the sombrely anthemic 'If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next' was the first single to be released from it. Reaction among fans was divided at the time: some thought it was too slow and not heavy enough, while others thought it was an amazing and beautiful song. When was the last time that a song about the Spanish Civil War got to Number 1 in the charts? When was the last time a Number 1 single taught us about history and culture? When was the last time a song as good as this reached Number 1? None of those things have happened since. How lucky we were to have been around then. Two random things I love about this track: 1. The soaring guitar solo 2. The final "aaaand" in the last chorus. 

Just in case you didn't know, the Manics released their 13th album earlier this year. The mighty 'Resistance Is Futile' is a reminder of why the Welsh trio remain one of the UK's best-loved bands.

Here's an interview broadcast on Radio 1 on the day of the song's release

And here's a video of James and Nicky talking about the single 20 years later